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http://www.thrillist.com/drink/montreal/montreal-s-first-map-of-bars-near-the-metro-montreal-metro-bar-map
<article itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Article" id="node-3601078" class="node node-article-view" style="max-width: 640px; margin-bottom: 1em;">INTRODUCING MONTREAL'S FIRST METRO BAR MAP
PUBLISHED ON 5/21/2014
BY KATHERINE SEHL
For all its greatness, using the Montreal Metro can occasionally be an experience that leaves you needing a stiff drink, so we’ve put together a guide to help you do just that -- by plotting out the best bar within a 5-10 minute walk of every one of the most popular stops on the map (and therefore excluding the industrial bar-wasteland of the Orange Line’s Northwest corner, the drinkery-free parks & suburbia tagged onto the ends of the Green Line, and the Yellow Line’s teetotal island layover).
Check out a blown-up version of the map here, and see below for each line in its individual glory.
</article>

Finally the huge crappy industrial building on the southeast side of Jarry and Viau is either going down or it'll be part of a large redevelopment!! The block is completely fenced in and the walls are being stripped and all the insides are being gutted..Let's hope for the first 20+ storey tower for the east end...the project belongs to the very deep pocketed Saputo clan and their associates.

Hi! I hope this post is not miscategorized.
Since I moved to Montreal I have been looking forward to seen these old garbage cans replaced:
They are too small, break easily, are always leaking, and most of them have lots of garbage under them which looks really bad (I don't even know how it gets there though I have a few theories). Anyway, in 2007 I found out that Michel Dallaire (the BIXI industrial designer) was to design new benches and garbage cans for downtown:
http://www.ledevoir.com/2007/12/17/168881.html
In 2008, renderings of the new designs appeared on his website:
http://www.dallairedesign.com/flash/index.html
And after that nothing happened. Is there any way to know what happened to this? Are they ever going to be replaced?

THE WHIPPET: QUEBECKERS' CLASSIC COOKIE
Montreal's industrial foundations - built on chocolatey marshmallow goodness
PETER RAKOBOWCHUK
The Canadian Press
October 31, 2007
MONTREAL -- Apopular cookie that's still being gobbled up by Quebeckers today is being given some of the credit for helping to launch the industrial growth of Montreal.
The decadent Whippet cookie, a chocolate-coated, marshmallow-topped treat, is more than a century old.
Housed in its familiar gold- and chocolate-coloured box, the Whippet made its debut in 1901 and the rest, as they say, is cookie history.
The Whippet and Viau Biscuits Corp., the company that made it, are featured in an exhibition at the Écomusée du fier monde, a small museum in the city's east end.
Print Edition - Section Front
Museum director René Binette says the Whippet was launched when the founder of the company tested it at a hockey game.
"People at the game liked it so much that it confirmed to Charles-Théodore Viau that he was on to a good thing," Mr. Binette said in an interview.
The cookie, first introduced as the Empire, was considered a luxury item and its sales helped Mr. Viau to expand the company's operations.
But Mr. Binette said the cost of vanilla and chocolate also put the Empire out of reach of the average Quebecker.
So in 1927, Mr. Viau decided to change the recipe and the name and created the more affordable Whippet.
Mr. Viau started the enterprise in a small bakery in Montreal's east end in 1867 and created the Village cookie - a plain, but hugely popular shortbread that Quebeckers loved to dunk in their tea.
He continued to expand the business until his cookie and candy factory became one of the area's major employers.
Part of Montreal even became known as Viauville, and a church in the neighbourhood was named St-Clément de Viauville.
One cookie lover tells the story of his parents buying several boxes and being warned by them not to touch the treats because they were destined for "Whippet-starved" relatives in Ontario.
Viau became history in March, 2004, when the company was sold to Kitchener, Ont.-based Dare Foods Inc., another family-owned business, and the factory was closed.
But Whippets are still being produced under the Dare banner at the company's plant in St-Lambert, south of Montreal.
A Dare spokeswoman says the company markets the Viva Puff, a similar cookie, in Ontario. The Quebec Whippet has "real" chocolate while its counterpart is made with a "compound" chocolate.
Contrary to what many Quebec cookie lovers may think, the popular Oreo sandwich cookie has not been around as long as the Whippet.
A spokeswoman for Kraft Foods Inc. says it was only introduced in Canada in 1949, although the Oreo was launched in the United States in 1912.
The Viau factory has now been converted into a condominium complex that has been appropriately named La Biscuiterie, the cookie factory.
Aficionados can visit the Viau: Cookie History exhibition at the Écomusée du fier monde until March 23, 2008.

China’s Stock Market Passes US as Leading Indicator
Published: Wednesday, 4 Aug 2010 | 12:43 PM ET
By: John Melloy
Executive Producer, Fast Money
China may be the second biggest economy in the world behind the US, but it is No. 1 in terms of influence over global stock markets, analysts said.
“The Chinese equity market has shown signs of ‘leading’ global equity markets at turning points over the past three years,” wrote Geoffrey Dennis, Citigroup’s emerging markets strategist. “As a result, the 13 percent rally in the Shanghai Composite since early-July has been a major support for improved overall global sentiment over the past month.”
It’s only natural China’s stock market would take a leading role following structural changes such as a jump in listings and the allowance of short sales. After all, the economic influence speaks for itself. Among other things, China is the biggest consumer of energy products, accounts for 70 percent of iron ore demand, and in 2009, became the No. 1 auto market, according to analysts’ reports.
The Shanghai Composite Index has led the US market back from its 2010 low. It’s no coincidence that the leading US stocks during this comeback have come from the stocks in the industrial and raw material industries such as Caterpillar [CAT 71.56 -0.40 (-0.56%) ] and Freeport-McMoRan [FCX 74.61 0.54 (+0.73%) ]. Ford [F 13.04 0.06 (+0.46%) ] shares are up 30 percent in one month.
“China’s rapid growth in auto sales is merely a reflection of the rise of middle class consumption patterns,” wrote Marshall Adkins, Raymond James energy analyst. “Add in increasing Chinese trucking, petrochemical and aviation consumption, and total Chinese oil demand growth in 2011 should be well north of 500,000 barrels per day and could drive over half of the global oil demand growth next year.”
It’s no coincidence then that oil topped $80 this week before retreating today.
The iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index [FXI 41.95 -0.08 (-0.19%) ], an ETF traded here on the NYSE, is supposed to be a direct play on the Chinese market, but it has underperformed China’s local market over the past month. The ETF contains only the large Chinese stocks that are listed as ADRs on US exchanges. What this data shows is that you may be better off buying a US index fund, industrial stocks or a broader emerging market ETF if you believe China is going higher. Citigroup sees the Chinese stock market rising five to 15 percent higher by the end of the year as fears of an economic slowdown are priced in.
"Based on a 'no double-dip' scenario, solid growth in emerging markets, low interest rates 'for longer' and attractive valuations, we remain bullish on emerging market for the long-term, including Chinese equities," wrote Citi's Dennis.
The closing bell of the New York Stock Exchange used to ripple through the rest of the world, dictating trading in Australia, Asia and Europe that followed it. No longer. The US traders’ day may be decided before he or she even wakes up.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/38558580

Not sure how absurd this sounds, but seeing Quebec had Hydro-Quebec as a crown corporation and it sells electricity to Quebecers and to the people in the US. Why doesn't Quebec get into the mining gold or lithium business.
I was thinking of it today. Seeing Quebec once hopes to be its own proper nation, why not start mining gold. Its a great way to build a reserve to back a currency (if they ever choose to use their own) and they can sell to the people, just like what they do with Hydro-Quebec.
Plus many countries have oil and other minerals owned by the Government.
(Courtesy of Quebec Government)

McGill College office space experiencing a revival
By Allison Lampert,
Montreal Gazette October 6, 2010
When 1981 McGill College was sold two years ago, the new owners were purchasing an office building that would soon be almost a third empty.
At the time, a major tenant, the law firm Ogilvy Renault, which occupied about 177,000 square feet out of 630,000 square feet of leasable space, was moving to Place Ville Marie.
"It's a risk that we took," said Martin Rousseau, leasing director for the new owner, Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. "But now it's going well, we're very happy."
After hitting a vacancy rate of more than 11 per cent and losing some major tenants over the last decade - including CGI Inc., Bell Canada, and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec - the office buildings on McGill College Ave. appear to be going through a revival, real estate brokers say.
In recent months, landlords have landed some big name tenants. In 2012, tax and risk management consultancy firm RSM Richter is to move its Montreal offices from Alexis Nihon in Westmount to 1981 McGill College - a coup for Industrial.
Last week, Polaris Realty announced the arrival of the Fédération des Caisses Desjardins du Québec to 1253 McGill College.
And over the summer, Astral Media moved from Ste. Catherine St. downtown to its new offices on McGill College.
"It's been good news for McGill College," said Luciano D'Iorio, president of Terramont Real Estate Services Inc. "There's been a lot of musical chairs."
Brokers weren't always so optimistic about the bustling downtown street. With McGill College's vacancy rate hitting 11.3 per cent in 2002, the fear was that other tenants would want to relocate near the Caisse's new headquarters at the Quartier International besides Square Victoria.
"Then the story was doom and gloom," said D'Iorio, who's writing a piece on the street's revival for the real estate trade publication Espace Magazine. "There was the fear that tenants wouldn't want to be on McGill College."
In the third quarter, the Montreal market for Class A office space - as in most of the country - showed an improvement in vacancy rates, an October report by Cannacord Genuity says. In Montreal, the vacancy rates for Class A office buildings are now under the equilibrium point of 10 per cent level, D'Iorio says.
But rents for Class A buildings dropped slightly in the third quarter compared to the second quarter, said the Cannacord report, citing data from CB Richard Ellis.
Rousseau of Industrial says he's optimistic despite still having the following three blocks of space left to rent: 35,000 square feet, 24,000 square feet and 5,000 square feet.
"Historically it's an attractive address," he said of McGill College.
[email protected]

A facelift for St. Jacques?
Tue, 2008-09-02 16:04.
Shuyee Lee
St. Jacques Street in NDG is known mainly for car dealerships, auto repair shops, seedy motels, vacant lots and empty storefronts.
But the borough wants to give it a facelift and attract more residents and stores.
It's proposing a bylaw that would bar new body shops, gas stations and other industrial business from opening up and rezone the area as mostly residential with room for restaurants, boutiques, grocery stores and similar "user-friendly" businesses. They're focussing on the stretch between Madison and Decarie. The existing industrial businesses would be allowed to stay.
A public consultation is being held tonight at 6pm at 5151 Côte-Sainte-Catherine.

Montreal is approaching 2011 at full speed
August 25, 2010 - John Clinkard (Market Insights)
As Montreal heads into the second half of 2010, it’s clear that the city must be doing something right.
For the past seven months it has consistently exhibited stronger year-over-year job growth than all but two of the 10 largest metro areas in the country.
Job growth has been particularly strong in wholesale and retail trade (+35,200), followed by finance insurance and real estate (+25,800); health services (+17,900); construction (+17,200); accommodation and food services (+10,600); and professional and technical services (+10,200).
This strong pattern of employment growth, accompanied by low interest rates and sustained net migration, has helped to underpin housing demand in Montreal.
According to the Greater Montreal Real Estate Board, sales of existing homes are up by 10% year to date, and median single family house prices ($258,000) are up by 5% year over year.
Demand for new housing is also strong, reflected by a 32% year-to-date increase in housing starts and a 48% year-to-date rise in residential building permits over the first six months of the year.
As is the case across much of the country, the combination of dissipating pent-up demand and deteriorating affordability is causing housing demand in Montreal to cool.
But the strong year-to-date increase in residential permits should sustain new residential construction into 2011.
While the pace of residential construction appears to be down-shifting, the outlook for both industrial and commercial construction is quite strong.
According to CB Richard Ellis, a gradual increase in manufacturing demand has caused the industrial availability rates in the Greater Montreal Area (GMA) to decline by 40 per cent since the end of 2009.
Reflecting this stronger pace of manufacturing activity, the value of industrial building permits has picked up since the beginning of the year and is now +73% year to date in June.
Also, despite relatively high office vacancy rates in the GMA, it appears that stronger retail and office-based employment growth is contributing to a turnaround in commercial construction, reflected by an 8% year-to-date increase in commercial building permits.
http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/news/2010/08/montreal-is-approaching-2011-at-full-speed/

West Island green space sale raises concern
The wooded area extends from Cap-Saint-Jacques nature park in Pierrefonds alongside the l'Anse-a-l'Orme Park to Angell Woods in Beaconsfield. (CBC)A call for tenders for green space on Montreal's West Island has caught both environmental activists and government officials by surprise.
Quebec's industrial development corporation, the Société générale de financement, which owns the land, has published ads in local papers seeking bids for the 98 hectares of land. The ads announce opportunities for residential and industrial construction.
The wooded area extends from Cap-Saint-Jacques nature park in Pierrefonds alongside the l'Anse-a-l'Orme Park to Angell Woods in Beaconsfield.
David Fletcher of the Green Coalition said he's worried the land - home to beavers, a herd of deer and rare species of plants and trees - will be spoiled.
"We already have enough development," said Fletcher. "We already have enough strip malls. We don't have enough areas conserved."
Local environmental groups and officials at the city of Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue said they had been told at one time the land would be turned into a conservation area.
"When we saw the ad in the paper, we thought, obviously we've been lied to perhaps," said Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Coun. Ryan Young.David Fletcher of the Green Coalition says the land should be preserved.David Fletcher of the Green Coalition says the land should be preserved. (CBC)
The city had been planning to change zoning bylaws on its portion of the land this fall, said Young.
But some worry it could be too late.
A spokesperson for Quebec Environment Minister Line Beauchamp confirmed the ministry had hoped to turn the land into a conservation area.
He said she is not happy about the decision to sell it.
"I think that speaks volumes," said Young. "I've been speaking to activists inside Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue and there's a move afoot to demonstrate … public support [to save the land].
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2010/06/16/mtl-west-island-woods.html#ixzz0r77Ccrlu

Avison Young Montreal | 2008 Review and 2009 Forecast |
2008 In Review
At the start of 2008, a strong Canadian dollar negatively impacted the province’s export industry. However, Montreal still posted positive economic growth of 1.7% for the year.2008 was a challenging year for the Montreal economy. The combination of a strong Canadian dollar for most of the year and the recent financial crisis in the United States negatively impacted the province’s export industry. Quebec’s economy is positioned in industrial sectors that are lagging or in a slump, such as the clothing, forestry, furniture and manufacturing industries. However, despite all this, Montreal still posted positive economic growth of 1.7% in 2008. Employment grew by 1.3% in the year and is anticipated to increase by another 1.5% in 2009. Consumer spending remained high and has contributed tremendously to economic growth.
Office
Engineering firms, many of whom are expanding to support major infrastructure projects in the province, spurred demand for office space. Downtown office vacancy closed the year at 5.4%, a significant drop from 6.2% at the end of 2007 and 9% at the end of 2006. The decrease in vacancyrates in the downtown market was accompanied by only a slight increase in rental rates. The suburban office vacancy rate has remained stable over the past four years, and closed the year at 13.1%. In 2008, 400,000 square feet (sq. ft.) of space was absorbed in the market, significantly lower than the 2007 absorption of 1.37 million sq. ft. Absorption of office space has been modest due to lack of quality space. Certainly, what is left of quality office space in downtown Montreal is quickly being absorbed, and options for tenants are becoming increasingly limited.
Industrial
Montreal’s manufacturing sector has been strongly affected by the rise in the value of the Canadian dollar. As a result, the industrial market has moved away from manufacturing to logistics and distribution type industries that drove demand for industrial space in Montreal. These types of companies require smaller spaces with greater clear heights. Consequently, vacancy rates increased for large spaces of 100,000 sq. ft. and more, whereas spaces between 15,000 and 25,000 sq. ft. became increasingly more difficult to find. Buildings with clear heights of 24 feet are in great demand and have an extremely low vacancy rate of approximately 1%. The rental rates for these buildings have therefore increased. Limited availability of appropriate space motivated tenants to construct built–to-suit projects that provide the amenities they require. Many of the older, more obsolete buildings are being demolished or completely renovated by developers.
Retail
Substantial consumer demand in Montreal created an active retail market in 2008, and retail sales rose by 5.5% in the year. In the downtown core’s central area, rental rates have quadrupled and vacancies are nonexistent. Rental rates closed the year at between $200 to $215 psf at the corner of Ste-Catherine and Peel Streets. Newcomers to Ste-Catherine Street include Apple Computer’s first Montreal retail location at 1321 Ste-Catherine Street West and H&M at the corner of Peel Street, with 20,000 sq. ft.
Investment
The financial crisis in the United States has softened the investment market in Montreal. Assets offered for sale require a longer exposure period. Investors using financial leverage as the basis for investment are having trouble completing acquisitions, thus diminishing the occurrence of successful
transactions. As a result capitalization rates increased by approximately 25 basis points this year. Despite this, many successful transactions were completed earlier in 2008. Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. invested approximately $100 million to acquire a 50% interest in 1981 McGill College, together with a major financial partner that acquired the remaining 50%. Cominar REIT acquired 2001 McGill College for $165 million. Canderel and Proment sold the first Phase of the Bell Campus for $185 million to a German real estate investment fund.
2009 Forecast
Office
Montreal is the only city in Canada with no significant downtown office construction projects. Until recently, large tenants have been able to find suitable alternatives that were much less expensive than proposed new projects. However, as vacancy rates continue to plunge, the availability of quality space will become even more limited. Tenants will soon have no choice but to consider one of the new construction projects. Expect to see the beginning of one or two office construction projects in 2009. Potential office developments include Canderel’s development of 1201-1215 Phillips Square, Hines’ development of 900 de Maisonneuve, Magil Laurentienne’s office or mixed-use building at 701 University and Westcliff’s development of Phase 2 of Place de la Cité Internationale. Quebec’s 2008 budget aimed to stimulate business investment by eliminating tax on capital for manufacturers and by offering a tax credit for the purchase of manufacturing equipment and a tax credit for new information technology companies. Accordingly, the Province of Quebec agreed to provide investment banking giant Morgan Stanley with $60 million in tax credits for opening a new global technical support centre in Montreal. Morgan Stanley is currently searching for office space in anticipation of bringing staff levels to 500 or more. Phase 1 of the new Bell campus on Nun’s Island was officially opened in August of this year. Phase 2 is anticipated to be ready for occupancy in February 2009. It will comprise 235,000 sq. ft. of office space and amenities, bringing the total to 840,000 sq. ft. A third phase is also planned, thus bringing the campus total to approximately 1.4 million sq. ft. The downtown core office market has absorbed a large percentage of the space formerly occupied by Bell.
Retail
In 2009, Canadians will likely be faced with weakening job prospects, tighter credit conditions and economic uncertainty, thus leading to moderated consumer spending. Retail sales are expected to grow by only 3.5% in 2009, as opposed to the 5.5% growth seen in 2008. Demand for space on Ste-Catherine Street will slow dramatically in 2009. As a result, retail vacancy rates are anticipated to increase and if retail sales continue to lag, we expect to see some retailers walking away from stores that do not perform. This will give tenants the upper hand in lease negotiations.
Industrial
The diminishing strength of the Canadian dollar will benefit the export industry in 2009. Demand for industrial space will likely come from the logistics, distribution and aerospace industries. We anticipate the overall vacancy rate to increase, as more space comes to market and older buildings that lack required ceiling heights remain empty. However, the vacancy rate for smaller buildings with adequate clear heights will remain low. Rental rates for the older, more obsolete buildings will decrease and rates for newer, smaller spaces with adequate ceiling heights will remain flat. Industrial construction activity will continue to slow in 2009 as a result of financing difficulties coupled with high land and construction costs. However, industrial growth will continue off the island of Montreal due to lower land costs and higher availability.
Investment
Banks have tightened credit significantly and consequently, financing is more difficult to obtain. Borrowers that lack liquidity will likely have difficulty acquiring assets. This, however, will leave the door open for REITs and international investors with capital at their disposal. In 2009, we anticipate a general slowdown in the investment market. The majority of investment sales deals in 2009 will be concentrated on a few portfolio deals; mostly smaller transactions involving retail and warehouse properties. Prices for commercial real estate product will likely decrease and cap rates will increase by 50 to 100 basis points.
http://www.avisonyoung.com/library/pdf/National/forecast2009.pdf
Également présent dans la section "Ressources".